Finals Game 1 Analysis: San Beda Vs. Letran

Pull your heart over the bar and your body will follow. But keep your head in the game.

We were outrebounded and outhustled. But we were the mentally stronger team down the stretch. And it all came to a head in the payoff fourth quarter. Technical fouls were the game changer and we used this to fuel our comeback. Plus we pulled out a couple of rabbits in Ryusei Koga and JP Mendoza out of the proverbial magic hat in the second half.

We had one of our best 1st quarters after our usual slow start. With our offense in check, Baser and Ola was sent in with 6 minutes remaining and we began to run. This team never lost its inherent ability at all and Baser scored on fastbreaks; Ola, Jake and Rome complimented him with scoring binges. However, Kevin Alas strung up eight points to rally the Knights. A Kyle Pascual block ended the first quarter with SBC leading 18-12.

Letran clamped down in the second period and with the aid of spotty calls held us to just six points while Kevin Alas once more led the Knights offense with seven, backstopped by Racal and Almazan, and Letran took the half, 25-24. Alas led the Knights with 15 points while Jake Pascual (who scored on a fast break after a bad 3 point attempt by JunJun Alas) and Baser Amer led SBC with 8 and 7 respectively. 

Entering the third, Letran made a big run and pulled away, 33-27. Coach Magsanoc sued for time to organize a counterstroke. Jam Cortes gets his fourth foul at 5:45. Then the tide began to turn. At this point Letran falls to technical fouls on Coach Alas and Racal from a foul by Racal himself off JP Mendoza. Though Mendoza would muff both charities, Baser Amer would convert four charities to tie the game. Ryusei Koga would then lead the running attack off defensive stops and string up six points to complement Baser's 13 for the quarter and we lead, 47-41. All in all, we blasted andovertook the Knights with 23 while limiting them to 16 after they made their scoring run earlier. 

Art dela Cruz would open up for us in the fourth with two baskets to counter an Almazan putback and jumpers from Mark Cruz. A very crucial JP Mendoza putback bucket put the score at 53-45, with 7:15 left; Letran was in dire straits after they already used up their allotted timeouts by this time. But they were far from finished. Mark Cruz would bury a three, Art dela Cruz would answer back with a top of the key jumper to pad our lead back to 55-50, and Jonathan Belorio fired a three to bring the lead further down and bring the situation to a pressure cooker level. Ryusei Koga, who presided in our big third quarter run bailed us out with a big top of the key three point basket that rocked the Arena to its foundations. With the game winding down, the Knights made one last gasp when Kevin Alas spit his charities and Mark Cruz sank a jumper to close the gap to 62-60. After regaining possession with 38 seconds left, the Knights final offensive thrust was stopped by a Baser loose ball recovery. One last inbound play by us with .8 of a second left sealed the win. 

Baser Amer led us with 20 points, of which he dropped 13 in the pivotal third; Ryusei Koga played probably his best game this season and it could not have come at a more critical time; he also had the unenviable assignment of shadowing Kevin Alas, who would just make three more points in the second half.

Kevin Alas played almost the entire game without relief. There would be no 43 point nuclear explosions dropped on us as we threw a lot of defenders against him and sidekick Cruz. However, the Knights fought our front line and probably won this battle if we are to look strictly at the numbers; Racal, Belorio and Almazan had 35 of letran's 49 between themselves. Ola was our only double digit rebounder with 12. But our mental toughness and carried us through in the end. To their credit, they played a rugged, though not dirty game. 

All the preparation, all that we witnessed in previous games was for this moment. We have one foot already in.

And this Saturday, we pray, our most challenging journey in years will finally come to a triumphant end.

source: Mr. Mon Latorre/SBC Red Lions FB Page